From Montecito With Love: Qatar Become the Local Favourite at Their California World Cup Base Camp

MONTECITO, California — A week before their first-ever World Cup match earned on the pitch rather than granted by hosting rights, Qatar's national team have already won something in California: the affection of a small coastal town.

The Maroon set up their 2026 World Cup base camp at Westmont College in Montecito, a quiet enclave in the Santa Barbara hills, and the welcome has been anything but quiet. Close to 400 residents — many of them schoolchildren from the neighbouring Franklin Elementary School — packed the touchlines for an open training session this month, watching Julen Lopetegui's squad work through a full hour on a freshly relaid pitch.

By the end of the session, local broadcaster News Channel 3-12 reported, Team Qatar had become "an instant crowd favourite." Players and coaching staff walked the fence line handing out jerseys and scarves, then stayed to sign them. One young fan came away with an autograph from defender Pedro Miguel — the man whose header against the United Arab Emirates last October helped send Qatar to this tournament.

"I got a signed jersey by a lot of players, and I met the coach — that was really famous — and it was a good experience," one schoolboy told the station.

The team's verdict on Montecito was just as warm. "We feel like at home," one member of the delegation said.

Qatar have invested in the relationship, too. The federation spent $250,000 upgrading Westmont College's grass field for the camp — an improvement the college will keep long after the tournament ends. Qatar share Santa Barbara County with Group B rivals of a different sort: Austria have based themselves a few kilometres away at UC Santa Barbara in Goleta.

A first earned the hard way

This World Cup carries a weight none of Qatar's previous football history quite matches. In 2022, the team entered as hosts. This time they qualified on merit — a first in the country's history — sealing their place on 14 October 2025 with a 2-1 win over the UAE in Doha, second-half headers from Boualem Khoukhi and Pedro Miguel completing the comeback.

Lopetegui, the former Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla manager who took over the national team in 2025, named his 26-man squad on 2 June. For the Spaniard there is personal history at stake as well: famously sacked by Spain on the eve of the 2018 World Cup, this is the first time he will actually lead a team into the tournament. He inherits the core of the side that won back-to-back Asian Cups in 2019 and 2023, led by captain and playmaker Akram Afif.

First up: Switzerland, Saturday

Qatar open their campaign on Saturday, 13 June against Switzerland at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area, with kickoff at noon local time (10:00 pm in Doha). The group then takes them north: Canada, the co-hosts, at BC Place in Vancouver on 18 June, and Bosnia and Herzegovina at Lumen Field in Seattle on 24 June.

On paper, Group B is unkind. Qatar, ranked 55th in the world, are the outsiders against three European-calibre opponents — Switzerland are seasoned knockout-round regulars, Canada have home advantage and a golden generation, and Bosnia bring physical, experienced squads to bear. Bookmakers rate Qatar the clear underdogs of the group.

But the expanded 48-team format softens the arithmetic. With the eight best third-placed teams advancing to the new round of 32, a single win — or even a draw and a respectable goal difference — could be enough to extend Qatar's stay in California. The June 13 opener against Switzerland, before the travel begins, may be the match that defines the campaign.

For now, at least, one corner of America has already picked its team.